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BBC1 controller to resign

(October 2007)

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MA
mansoor
Mediaguardian.co.uk

Quote:
BBC1 controller Peter Fincham and his head of press Jane Fletcher are set to resign today following Will Wyatt's inquiry into the "Crowngate" affair, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.
Sources within the BBC say the pair have been in talks with senior executives about their actions following the BBC1 autumn launch in which promotional footage was falsely edited to give the impression that the Queen had stormed out of a photo shoot.

They have decided to quit because they knew by 5pm on the day of the BBC1 press launch on July 11 that the story was untrue. But they did not correct it until the following morning, allowing the media - including BBC News - to run with the story.
TV
tvarksouthwest
I was hoping this was a troll, but sadly this is the current lead story on Media Guardian.

Very sad if true. Peter has done a stirling job at BBC1 and if he does resign will have been forced out by a witch-hunt. Any heads that should be rolling are those in the press department who put together the trailer and should have known that it faced being ripped to pieces by blood-thirsty hacks.
MI
Michael
BBC Breaking News Alerts confirms Fincham has now resigned.
ST
Stuart
Really you would expect the BBC to be savvy enough to have the right BBC One logo on display at the press conference for the resignation of their now-former Controller. Sloppy to say the least.

http://www.rp-network.com/tvforum/uploads/bbcone.jpg

I'm surprised they didn't have the bat-wings logo from 1936!
TV
tvarksouthwest
That stinks. The man has been made a scapegoat.

Seriously, what has Mr Fincham done to deserve being hing out to dry like this?
BB
BBC LDN
tvarksouthwest posted:
That stinks. The man has been made a scapegoat.

Seriously, what has Mr Fincham done to deserve being hing out to dry like this?


Here's an idea: read the first post.

They have decided to quit because they knew by 5pm on the day of the BBC1 press launch on July 11 that the story was untrue. But they did not correct it until the following morning, allowing the media - including BBC News - to run with the story.
ST
Stuart
tvarksouthwest posted:
That stinks. The man has been made a scapegoat.
Seriously, what has Mr Fincham done to deserve being hing out to dry like this?

Well, he hasn't done anything to deserve it of course, but ultimately he's being a decent Senior Manager and accepting responsibility for those under his control who have behaved badly and irresponsibly.

It's always sad when any business loses someone of talent simply because they adhere to the code that they take the flack at the end of the day. I hope the people truly responsible will also suffer. I don't think Peter Fincham will be out of a job for long. BBC One has done well under him.

EDIT 14:25
I see RDF heads are rolling now too!
TV
tvarksouthwest
The irony is, it wasn't his department that did wrong, it was the Press Office who screwed up. Although I can see why Mr Fincham would take overall responsibility but in this case it's so unjust.

BBC1 (and the likes of us at TVF) waited years for someone like him to come along and sort out the channel, just when he begins to do that he ends up as one of the channel's shortest serving controllers, and for what - the incompetence of others and BBC-hating tabloids who have been baying for his blood ever since the Queen row emerged.
RO
Ronant
StuartPlymouth posted:
Really you would expect the BBC to be savvy enough to have the right BBC One logo on display at the press conference for the resignation of their now-former Controller. Sloppy to say the least.

http://www.rp-network.com/tvforum/uploads/bbcone.jpg

I'm surprised they didn't have the bat-wings logo from 1936!

Urmm that was the press conference from 2005 when they annouunced his arrival to the job. The News channels always dig out old footage to illustrate their stories.
PA
Paul02
Should Peter Fincham have gone over his withholding of information about the presentation of the Queen in the documentary ? Don't know.

As to whether he did a good job or not- well, at a time when a move towards family-oriented shows was indicated, BBC1 has been 'steady as she goes', with the few changes being cheap, lamentable, schedule filling fodder, principally The ONE Show, the village hall version of Nationwide.

He could have been worse and he could have been a lot better.

Perhaps he wasn't allowed to be better ?
MS
Mr-Stabby
This is ridiculous really, because as far as i can work out, not one single member of the public (except the people who suck up what the tabloids say, who frankly shouldn't even be allowed opinions anyway) gave a toss when the whole 'queen' thing came out, and they care even less about it now. So as far as i can work out, the controller of BBC1 is being forced to resign because the papers don't like him. That's stupid in so many ways isn't it?!
DB
dbl
Roly Keating has been named as acting controller of BBC1:
http://digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds77111.html

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